Have you ever wondered how your child can be better in the classroom? Is it by being an active participant or by being a proficient reader? While these are excellent qualities to have in students, one underrated skill differentiates good students from great ones: being good listeners.
Some of the best boarding schools in India have mastered exceptional listening skills. So, let’s dive into what constitutes good listening and how you can cultivate this skill in your children!
The Art of Active Listening
When it comes to listening, the goal of the Top Boarding Schools in India isn’t just to fine-tune listening; it’s to ensure students are active listeners, too!
After all, the best learning starts in the classroom, not in the notebook. So, when children are paying attention to what’s being taught in class, actively gauging and understanding their curriculum, and concentrating and engaging proactively in class quadruples their chances of remembering their lessons and performing better.
Education isn’t the only parameter for judging good listening skills. As students grow up and enter the workforce, they will likely be better participants if they possess important qualities such as charisma and empathy to lead their workplace easily. What’s more? It’ll help them form better and deeper bonds with peers, students, and parents to create healthy connections and relationships!
Active Participation in Active Listening
The role of elders is crucial when building good habits, especially when it comes to listening. So, start with simple visual cues like:
- Maintain Consistent Visual Cues: Small gestures often make the grandest difference, and you can start by simply maintaining eye contact. At the TonsBridge School, teachers are considered the student’s peers, so camaraderie and trust are built to encourage better communication skills.
- Demonstrate Listening Behaviours: Encourage students’ participation in listening activities by showing them you’re truly interested. Steps such as maintaining consistent eye contact, nodding, using body language, and nodding might seem like small steps, but they make a world of difference.
Incorporate Technology
Technology solves every problem when used wisely, and listening is no exception! Here’s what the Leading Boarding Schools in Dehradun do to use it:
Listening Tools and Apps: The TonsBridge School has a well-equipped library with hundreds of audiobooks that make learning an adventure. By incorporating apps, we’re equipping children with better learning and comprehension skills to understand their curriculum and the world around them. You, too, can use storytelling apps, interactive videos, podcasts, and other technologies at home to ensure your kids listen better!
Be Gentle: The Best Boarding Schools in India will all agree that fear is the most significant deterrent to learning. So, instead of criticising kids, offer them gentle feedback so they are reassured they’re being listened to. Additionally, try not to interrupt and listen to them fully because their most prominent teacher is how we react to them.
So be a better listener to your kids, and watch them flourish no matter where they head!
Feedback through technology: You might think surveillance technology is only used at The TonsBridge School for enhanced safety, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Surveillance technology can also be used to assess students’ performance and ensure they’re learning how to develop better listening and communication skills. Recording classroom sessions and discussions and allowing students to access the recordings to study themselves gives them a beautiful opportunity to self-assess and track their progress. It also helps them develop exceptional listening skills that they can work on comfortably.
Develop their Curiosity
The Best Boarding Schools in India try to cultivate curiosity in students to develop natural listening skills. Some simple ways you can take a page from their books include:
- Ask Thought-Provoking Questions: After they’ve completed specific sections or a lesson, students can be asked to recall and reflect upon their learnings to answer questions and think about them critically. This ensures better presence of mind and better memory in the long run.
- Encourage Study Journals: Psychologists worldwide encourage people of all ages to maintain journals to listen to and understand their thoughts. Similarly, students can keep notes about their key takeaways from their lessons and classroom conversations so they can deeply reflect on their education and, in turn, start listening to their surroundings deeply.
Experts from all across the world agree that communication is a two way street, and to be an effective communicator, listening is an important skill people need to be taught from a young age. With simple steps taught at home and in school, students are taught to thrive in a world that demands them to stand out. So